Canadian Legal Grounds for Demanding Access to Payment Processors

Payment rails—Stripe, PayPal, GoFundMe, and their peers—have become indispensable for earning a living, fundraising, and exercising freedom of speech. Their importance means that it is a serious matter when such a platform denies service to a potential or existing client. Below is a general description of laws that may be relevant for anyone looking to challenge a denial of service. Note that the following is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

1 Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Framework

Federally, under the Canadian Human Rights Act (section 5) it is a discriminatory practice to deny access to goods, services, or facilities “customarily available to the public” on prohibited grounds of discrimination. Such grounds include race, religion, colour, and national or ethnic origin.

Each province and territory has similar laws. For example, the Ontario Human Rights Code, British Columbia’s Human Rights Code, and Québec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms all prohibit discrimination in services or contracts offered to the public (in Quebec, protected grounds include political convictions).

Human rights tribunals have confirmed that purely online businesses are covered. Whether federal or provincial laws apply will depend on the exact nature of the business in question.

If a complaint is upheld, the tribunal’s powers vary from one jurisdiction to another but remedies may include such things as ordering the business to cease the discriminatory practice, or to pay damages, or to take measures to prevent similar discrimination from occurring in future.

The deadline to file the complaint (sometimes referred to as the statute of limitations) will vary across jurisdictions, so it’s best to proceed as soon as possible after suffering the discrimination.

2 Consumer Protection & Fair Business Practices

Depending on the province and the business’ exact terms and conditions, it may be possible to invoke provincial consumer protection laws that are designed to shield consumers from unfair or deceptive conduct. For instance, Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act (sections 14–17) and Quebec consumer protection law (section 11.2) forbid unilateral changes to key contract terms without adequate notice. It may be possible to argue that an arbitrary denial of service breaches those rules. When invoking a breach of consumer protection legislation, it may be possible to make a complaint to the province’s consumer protection office, or to sue in court. While the general court process can be lengthy and expensive, a province’s small claims court can offer a simpler and faster venue for claiming damages up to a certain amount (for example, $50,000 in Ontario, $15,000 in Quebec and $35,000 in British Columbia).

4 Contract Law Duties of Good Faith

Even where a platform claims the right to terminate “at any time,” common-law duties impose limits. In Bhasin v Hrynew (2014), the Supreme Court recognized a general duty of honest performance; parties cannot lie or mislead each other about how a contract will be carried out. C.M. Callow Inc. v Zollinger (2020) added that discretionary powers must be exercised in good faith. Consequently, a terms-of-service clause wielded arbitrarily—or to hide discriminatory motives—breaches contract law and may opens the door to damages. As mentioned above, for damages below a certain amount (that varies from one province to another), the simplified venue of small claims court may be available.

5 Soft-Law & International Norms

Though non-binding, global standards add moral and reputational pressure. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urge companies to avoid discriminatory impacts and provide effective remedies. Canada’s own corporate-social-responsibility strategies underscore Ottawa’s willingness to link market access to human-rights performance—leverage that civil-society groups can wield in shareholder activism and media campaigns.

Bottom Line

As set forth above, Canadian law establishes multiple mechanisms that may help an individual to contest a discriminatory or arbitrary ban by platforms like Stripe, GoFundMe, or PayPal. If you can afford a lawyer, they can advise you on what options are available in your specific circumstances and what the chances of success might be. If hiring a lawyer isn’t possible, many jurisdictions have free or low-cost options you can turn to. In Ontario, the Legal Aid Ontario website has a directory of legal clinics. In British Columbia, you can try Legal Aid BC or Access Pro Bono. And, in Quebec, there is the Clinique juridique du Barreau as well as the clinics of Université de Montréal and McGill University.

Note: inclusion in the list above does not constitute an endorsement of any particular clinic or the services it may offer.